Broadcasting from the top of the world!
Services About KNLS About Alaska Free Offerings Other
Items
The
RealAudio format is used exclusively on this site. Click on the
icon above to download your free copy. |
|
KNLS English Service |
|
Author's Journal Transcripts for Gayle Crowe |
Dr. Gayle Crowe is a veteran Christian evangelist. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for World Christian Broadcasting, the ministry that owns and operates station KNLS. Dr. Crowe serves a church family located in the American State of Indiana. His messages are heard each week on the New Life Station. This page is an archive for Dr. Crowe's previous articles in this series.
Turning Good Ideas into Great Ones
I have friends who won’t fly. I don’t understand that. I like to fly. One reason is that I’ve taken a number of car trips across the United States, and believe me, I’d much rather sit for four hours on a plane rather than four days in a car. I remember the first flight I took when I was 10 years old. It was on a small plane that bounced and tossed, but even so I thought it was great fun.
Long before the days of modern flight, many people dreamed of flying. One of the Greek myths was that of Daedalus who supposedly fashioned wings of feathers and wax for himself and his son, Icarus. Icarus flew too far away from his daddy, soared toward the sun, the wax melted, and he plunged into the sea. Or so the myth said.
Others tried the same idea. An 11th century monk fastened wings to his arms and feet and jumped from a tall tower – winding up with two broken legs as souvenirs of the day. In 1678 a Frenchman attached a set of wings to his shoulders. Nope, didn’t work, though he did live through it. In 1896 Otto Lilenthal tried flying a glider; he crashed and died a few days later.
Wilbur and Orville Wright, by contrast, tried a different plan. They studied past failures. They researched a U.S. Army study. They observed kites and birds in flight, and concluded sound principles from what they saw. They communicated with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., to learn what they knew. Based on all that, they created their first glider designed for manned flight. Launch date was December 17, 1903, just 100 years ago. Their 12-second flight changed the world. Today airline travel has become so common, people rarely even look up when they hear a plane overhead.
So why were Wilbur and Orville Wright successful, when others were not? They were successful simply because they took a dream and applied the principles of physics. The dream alone was not enough, as so many failed dreamers before them learned the hard way.
Listen to people talk. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Ideas for their careers, ideas for their love lives, ideas for their businesses, ideas for fame and fortune. Nobody faults a great idea. Only a few, however, take the time to develop those ideas into a workable plan by applying the principles of God. Those principles are found on every page of the manual called the Bible.
You have ideas for what you would like your life to be. You have ideas for your marriage, your family, your future. What are you doing with all those ideas? You don’t have to figure it all out by yourself. For a flying start, write us at KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska 99556. Or e-mail us at KNLS@aol.com. We’ll be in touch soon.
Would you like to return to the complete list of Dr. Crowe's messages, or jump to the top of this page?
My brother-in-law, whose name is Joe, retired last year. For 30 years he had been a pilot with an airline that flies all over the world. His last assignment was Captain of the huge and luxurious Boeing 777, the newest and most advanced commercial aircraft in the world. Joe retired with a perfect record: he never injured a passenger, never had an accident – or, as they say in the airline industry, he never "bent the metal."
Even in retirement Joe continues to fly for both business and pleasure, but of course now in much smaller planes. When he goes somewhere, if at all possible he takes with him a younger co-pilot, and throughout the trip he talks with the younger pilot continually to mentor him with good flying habits as he was mentored 30 years ago.
One piece of advice he always stresses: on takeoff, the pilot should consciously think to himself, "I am going to lose an engine on this takeoff. What are my options? What are the emergency procedures? Where are the controls I would use to bring this plane back under control?" In 30 years, flying 20,000 hours, Joe lost an engine only two times, but even so, he always, always went through that mental drill as he prepared for takeoff.
You may be thinking, "Wow, that’s pessimistic!" Well, call it whatever you want – it’s a lot better to be thinking that way just in case an engine does fail. If it doesn’t fail, everything’s fine. If an engine does fail, Joe is ready and prepared to deal with the crisis.
Makes me think of advice even for those of us who stay earthbound most of the time. Think of the homespun American proverbs: "To be forewarned is to be forearmed." "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." "Better safe than sorry."
To think things through ahead of time is a great way to avoid tragedy later. Think about a man going into a business venture with someone else. He can walk into it blind, just assuming the best, or he can take the other route: "I am going to be presented with unethical options. What are my standards? What words will I use to stand up for those standards?"
Then there’s Joe or Jennifer about to go out on a date. What’s going to happen the next few hours? If there’s no plan thought out ahead of time, it’s easy to fall into the drugs, alcohol, and sex scene. Is that really the way they want to spend their evening? Isn’t there something better, more uplifting they can do? With a plan thought out ahead of time they can do things that will allow them to feel good about themselves the next day.
Thinking ahead. Deciding who you are and living up to that. These are, when you think about it, questions of life and death. If you’re not quite sure who you are or what to think about your future, write us at KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska 99556. Or e-mail us at knls@aol.com
Would you like to return to the complete list of Dr. Crowe's messages, or jump to the top of this page?
Is there any sound more beautiful than a baby’s cry? Oh, I know, wailing that goes on and on can get on your nerves, but when you step back and think of all that cry means, you start hearing with different ears.
The birth of a baby is a time of celebration, a time of rejoicing for everybody concerned. The new mother quickly forgets her pain, and is filled with wonder and delight at the sight of this new creature. The new daddy greets visitors to the hospital or the house with a smile on his face and his chest puffed out.
The whole world is right there in the birth of a baby. So much potential! Who can begin to know what the next 80 or 90 years will bring? What experiences lie ahead? What sort of personality traits will this new, tiny person take on? What skills will she excel in? What lives will he touch? What will others say of her character? How many corners of the world will he brighten?
All these questions run through the parents’ minds over the first few weeks and months as they rock this new little person, change him, feed him, dress him, play with him. Some of my most precious memories with our children are the times I was up in the middle of the night to feed them and rock them back to sleep. Climbing out of bed was hard, but one look at that tiny face and I melted.
A baby is a universal delight because it represents life in its most pure form. It hasn’t been corrupted by the passing of time. A baby is life with a smile on its face. Spending twenty minutes a day with a baby, especially if you’re not around one very often, is an invigorating experience.
What you may not know is that Jesus Christ taught his followers that the name he wanted them to use for God is "Daddy." Not father, not even dad. Daddy. Jesus said we should think of God as our Daddy.
I think that’s fascinating. How can that be? Could it be that when God looks at our lives, he sees us with the same warmth and irresistible affection we feel toward our children? He sees potential, he sees possibilities that we ourselves can’t begin to see. God looks at us with different eyes than we see ourselves. He’s a more perceptive daddy to us than I was to my children because he already knows the talents we have, the skills we can develop, the personality traits we can take on. He knows our character and our habits. Now some of that may be things we’re not too thrilled for God to see. But the fact is, that’s not all he sees. He sees his own influence in our lives, he sees his own imprint on our souls. He sees the big picture—which is pretty hard for us to do about ourselves.
How does your picture of yourself compare with what God sees in you? Maybe we could give you some guidelines to begin thinking about it. Write us at KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska 99556. Or e-mail us at knls@aol.com.
Would you like to return to the complete list of Dr. Crowe's messages, or jump to the top of this page?
The New Life Station is pleased to provide transcripts online for a number of KNLS programs. Please note that all scripts are the property of World Christian Broadcasting and/or SeedSower Productions. They are provided here for your personal enjoyment only and may not be disseminated in any fashion without prior written permission.